1. Technical Field
This invention generally relates to fishing reels, and more particularly to a casting reel for fly fishing.
2. Background
There are many prior art fly fishing casting reel designs which have been developed. They are all based upon some general principles which do not change from reel to reel. The line spool freely rotates in one direction so that the fishing line freely reels onto the line spool, and is subject to frictional drag when it rotates in the other direction, as the fish, after the strike, attempts to swim away with the line.
A very simple prior art casting reel design is shown in prior art FIGS. 1 and 2. In this design, the line spool rotates around a fixed shaft. A ratchet gear is provided in close proximity to one of the side plates of the line spool, and is also rotatable about the shaft. A pawl ratchets across the ratchet pockets of the ratchet gear when the line spool is rotating in one direction, which is the direction in which the user would wind the spool to take in the line. In the other direction, the pawl slides back until it engages the face of one of the ratchet gear teeth, causing the ratchet gear and the line spool to be mechanically locked together for rotation in that direction. Some sort of an adjustable break is provided to frictionally engage the ratchet gear to provide the requisite frictional drag. Some prior art designs are more sophisticated than others, and certainly more sophisticated than that disclosed in prior art FIGS. 1 and 2, however, they all use some sort of a ratchet and pawl assembly. It is the pawl sliding over the ratchet teeth which provides the clicking noise that one usually hears in the prior art reel designs.
Another problem with conventional fly casting reels is that the clicking noise is sometimes too loud. It is inherent, in most ratchet and pawls, but in those cases where an artificial clicker is included to supplement the clicking noise of the inherent clicking noise, it can, under certain conditions, be too loud. A clicking noise is useful, since it enables the fisherman to gauge how fast the line is being taken out or in after the fish strike, but it can also be harmful. Fish are sensitive to noise, and a noisy fisherman can find himself fishing in a dry hole. As a result, most of the better prior art designs, if they provide a supplemental clicking noise maker, also provide some feature to turn it on or off. However, no provision is made in the prior art to adjust the noise level of the clicking sound.
The problem with the prior art ratchet and pawl assembly is that there is always a certain amount of unwanted free line withdrawal rotation from the line spool as the pawl slides back over the outer face of a ratchet tooth and into engagement with the gear face of the next ratchet tooth. The maximum amount of unwanted rotation is shown as arc "A" in FIG. 2. Arc "D" shows the typical amount of free rotation encountered with a fish strike. With large deep sea fishing reels this is usually not a problem, but, with a smaller fly fishing reels, for example, those used in trout fishing, it can become a significant problem.
Many of the world famous and truly world-class fly fishing streams, for example, Silver Creek near Sun Valley, Id., are managed as catch and release streams. This means the fly fisherman must use a barbless hook. As the fish strikes, the fisherman must set the hook by snapping the line taut at the precise moment of the fish strike. If there is a little bit of play in the reel as the pawl slides back over the outer face of the ratchet tooth, the line does not set instantaneously and the fish, since the hook is barbless, can disgorge it, as any fly fisherman who uses barbless hooks can attest to.
Another problem with the prior art fishing reels is the brake used to induce the frictional drag on the line spool. Most are simple frictional engagement pads, such as that shown in prior art FIG. 1. Some sort of mechanical adjustment is made with a spring, to which is attached a frictional pad which engages the ratchet gear. These brake mechanisms cannot usually be precisely controlled. Alignment problems caused by wobble of the ratchet gear on the shaft, heat induced by use, and weather conditions, whether it be high temperatures, low temperatures, rain and even humidity, can affect the amount of frictional drag. If the reel is a large one being used to catch 100 pound Marlin in coastal waters, it may not make much of a difference, but if it is a small reel being used for small fish, for example, trout in a mountain stream, the amount of frictional drag can be extremely important. The tensile strength of the tippet, which is the thin piece of line to which the fly is connected, may be quite low and subject to breakage if the force of the frictional drag exceeds the tensile strength of the tippet. Thus, precisely controlling the amount of frictional drag can be extremely important.
Accordingly, what is needed is a fly casting fishing reel which includes three improvements, the first, the provision for a locking mechanism where the frictional drag is instantaneously incurred when the fish strikes the line and attempts to take it; the second is a precisely controllable braking mechanism which is not readily affected by changes in temperature, or humidity or from continuous use.
The third object of the present invention is to provide a clicking noise maker to selectively simulate the noise of the ratchet and pawl, so as to assist the fisherman in determining the speed at which line is being taken from the reel after the fish strike. It is a further object of this invention to provide an adjustable sound artificial noise maker so that the user can selectively vary the amount of clicking noise and its degree of softness from a loud staccato clicking to a quietest of soft click, or even no click at all, so that the fisherman can accurately judge which way the line is going, in or out.